Filed under: Ajijic, General Update, Greg Collett, Hiking, Pets, Travel Storys
In some ways, lots has happened since our last update. In other ways, not much really.
From Dallas we drove through to Laredo where we spent the night before crossing the border. Both the US and Canadian travel warnings tell folks not to drive across the Mexican border. They say if you have to go to Mexico, fly in to the middle somewhere. We want to bring our stuff back with us when we return in April so, we need the car. The girl at the car insurance office told us that she usually has lineups of people buying insurance before driving into Mexico but, as of when we were there, we were only about the 3rd policy they’d written so far, this year! She went on to tell us stories of why non of them go across the border anymore. Non of this helped us much with our nervousness of crossing in the morning. We’d decided to cross about 9:00 AM. My thinking was that the ‘bad guys’ stay up wrecking havoc under the cover of darkness and should be asleep until noon. Neither one of us got much sleep that night.
In the end, all of our worries were for not. The border crossing went smoothly and we were well on our way after getting out of the customs office with Lynne’s visa and our sticker for the car. I got my 5 year visitor status a while ago.
The drive from Nuevo Laredo (the Mexican side of the town) to Ajijic was uneventful. We stayed out one night and arrived here in the middle of the afternoon on the Wednesday afternoon, just a couple of hours late for the weekly market that takes over our street in town.
It felt good to be back. Not as exciting as it had been last year. We felt the same way about the trip down here. Last year was very exciting and all new. This year it was, well, it was just work getting here. We’d done the tourist thing in Nashville, Memphis and Dallas which we enjoyed, but the rest of te 4500k trip wasn’t much fun at all.
Great to see our friends from last year, Paul and Kay from the east coast when we got here. The pups all came running which was pretty cool for me. They looked skinny which bugged me a bit. I’d left 5, 13k bags of dog food for them before I left. I guess the folks on the ranch fed all the dogs with that. Now (3 weeks later) they are pretty fat again. The owner here had given “Moose”, the biggest male to his boyfriend just before I’d gone back home and somehow the guy managed to let it die in the 5 weeks I’d been away. The owner gave him another one so, we were down to 5 pups left. Someone bought one the other weekend so, now we’re down to 4. God only knows what’s going to end up happening to them.
The folks who run the ranch built a small pen for them in a dark cold corner of the ranch so that they wouldn’t be running around pooping all over the place as it fills up with the Snowbird set. I took the dogs out of there and told them that at home I could have them charged with cruelty to animals but keeping them there. For some reason they listened. They often put the pups there during the night, but they are out and free to run all over during the day. Maybe I should stop calling them pups. They were born on August 18, they’re over 4 months old now, and getting pretty big!
So far, we’re not having as much fun as we hoped too. There’s something very exciting about finding and exploring a new place. Coming back again is, just that. We’re here again. Climbing in the mountains is still cool except my ankle that I wrecked in NYC still sisn`t back together properly. I hiked for a few hours last Sunday and had trouble putting weight on it for the rest of the day. Nothing new, all very nice, but we’re both feeling a bit that it’s just the same again. We won’t be back next winter! That’s not to say we’ll never come back, but we still have a lot of the world to see and a ton of new stuff to check out.
Christmas was quiet. We saw some friends, went out for a nice Christmas Eve dinner, met with some other friends for dinner on christmas day, but I think we were both thinking more about my kids all up in Ottawa. Kids, grandkids, extended family, 18 for dinner. Mom alone in Peterborough. Yup – we’ll do that differently next year for sure. I did manage to get out and get a haircut just before the holiday.
Jordan arrives in a few hours for about 9 days. We’re both super excited about seeing him. I have a couple of buddies who may come visit for a bit in January and February. Lynne lifelong girlfriend is coming for the month of March. Ron and Bev are planning to come the first week of April. We’re planing on starting the trip home on April 15th.
I’ve got that new bike waiting for me at home. I’m looking forward to putting some mileage on that next summer. I’m hoping to get a few race announcing gigs with the HSBC series. I’ve dug out all of my notes and the beginning 30 pages of the book I’ve been threatening to write and plan to work o n that before heading back home. I’m looking into how to turn that into a cool speech that I could take out on the road and have some fun with as well.
Lynne and I are looking into the Camino walk through the top of Spain for next fall. I keep hearing about it. It’s an almost 800k walk from France, through the mountains and across to Santiago. It should take about 30 -35 days of hiking. I must have run into 20 people of late who have done it. 15 of them have done it more than once so, we`re thinking it looks like a pretty cool adventure too.
Lynne and I sat in an African restaurant a few years ago in Washington on New Years Eve and wrote down what we thought the next year was going to look like. The possibilities for next year are endless for us right now. I think we`ll spend more time back in Ontario and, by all the things we`re looking into, I think we`ll ave a few pretty good adventures to write about too.
Happy New Year everyone. I hope everyone has some great adventures coming up soon too!
Filed under: Ajijic, General Update, Greg Collett, Hiking, Motorcycle in Mexico, Pets, Travel Storys
Wow – 14 days since the last update and 14 more sleeps until I head back to the “Old Country” for a 5 week visit.
I haven’t been writing for a while because, there isn’t a lot going on that’s new and different.
The weekend before last I decided to go for another ride out to Sayula and then Colima. Sayula is the town where all the knife makers are. I’m looking for a particular knife but, they didn’t have any, again! I’d taken the back road part way and loved it. Riding a bike down here is wonderful. The drivers are all crazy here. I have no idea what’s about to pop up in front of me in town, any town, but the highways are great. They go for miles and miles. I love riding in the sunshine sightseeing. Colima is the town beside the closest active volcano to where I live here. It’s about 200k from our casa, and about 100k from Sayula. It’s along that same great highway, but that second leg of the trip takes me through more mountains and then some bridges that span drops of several hundred feet. It’s beautiful. I couldn’t see the top of the volcano because of the clouds but it was still a great ride . . . . out!
No - I don't ride without a helmet and stuff!
This bike is only a 250 cc thing that shakes like crazy at its high-speed. It only manages 90 – 100 kph which, back home would be OK, but drivers here on the highway move between 125 – 140 – 160 kph. It’s a bit unnerving when a tandem tractor-trailer passes at those speeds. It would be nice to have a bike with enough power to get away from those guys and, not shake like the worlds biggest vibrator! I have to stop and stretch a bit every 100k or so. I got to my last stop on the way back. My GPS showed that I had 99.7k to go to get back to my house. I finished the last bit of water and the last cereal bar that I had with me. Walked a bit at the side of the road to get the kinks out and got back on the bike for the last leg of the trip. Turn the key . . . . nothing! No cranking of the engine, not lights, no horn, nada! It was as if someone had taken the battery out of the bike or had cut the wire of something. It was 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon. Most of the folks I knew were out-of-town this weekend. I wasn’t even sure if the cell phone I had would work where I was. There’s a really long complicated story to go with how I got back home, but, it’s enough to say that 5.5 hours later, the bike and I in the back of a pickup got home again! A reliable bike would be nice too!
A local guy here got it going after a few days and the boys back at the shop that I use got it humming again. It’s running like a charm right now. I think I’ll forego any long trips for a while!
Heading out at the end of the day!
The pups are about 9 weeks old now. The owner sent his boyfriend over the other day to take one of the pups for himself. I was pretty pissed that the owner never said anything to me. No Thanks or, hey, I’m giving one of the pups to my friend. The friend, who spoke zero English just came, picked them all up one at a time and took the biggest one. I gave the owner a bit of a hard time about it later but he’s one of those typical polished useless pieces of shit who say the right thing, but there’s nothing behind it. You know the type. the “My dad is a very successful self-made man and I’m the playboy son, pretending to be important the actually just pissing away dads money waiting for him to die so he can sell out and go back and hang out in Paris. Dick!! Luckily for me, he doesn’t come around to the ranch much, and almost not at all during snow bird season.
Heading Home!
I am so looking forward to getting back together with Lynne again. We talk almost every day. Being alone for the first week or two was great, but then, I started to really miss her. I’m flying up to Toronto on November the 2nd. We’ll head to NYC for the weekend and then back to Newmarket on the Monday. (NYC? I want my shirt at least!) Michelle and Gavin are meeting us there so, we should have a fun weekend bee-bopping around New York.
It will be nice to see the gang(s) back home and hang out for a bit. Lynne and I are going to drive back down here for the winter. We’re planning on leaving on about Dec 10th. Hopefully, the snow wont be flying before that. I expect we’ll do this trip in just a few days. I know people who have done it in 4 days. I think we’ll take 5 or 6.
Winter here and then drive back in the spring, probably in April or May. After that, who knows. I really don’t want to join back into city life, but I don’t want to spend endless periods of time without Lynne either. The time I’ve spent alone here has been nice in lots of ways, including letting me figure out a bit more of who and what I am and want. Part of what I discovered is that, a large part of what I am is ‘half of Lynne and Greg’!
There’s lots of time to think about next summer. I’m not going to worry about it much now. I do plan to do some looking at larger used bikes for sale while I am home next month. I’m sure the fall is the least expensive time to buy. The Honda ST 1100 is looking pretty good to me at the moment!
Honda ST 1100
I got my answer last night about if the puppies would find their way out of the rain and into the bush to stay dry. The answer appears to be . . . . . . . NO! 
I woke up about 5:30 and lay in bed listening to the rain pounding down outside. A couple of minutes went by, the cobwebs cleared and I remembered wondering about the pups last night before hitting the sack. They were spread out all over the front lawn. Some alone, some snuggled in with one another in little twisted black balls of fur. Some pushed into the pathetically sparse little plants that line the edge of the sidewalk.
5:30 am is WAY TOO EARLY for me these days, but I had to see that they were OK. George Carlin once said that the test for a child’s intelligence would be that; “You drive your kids downtown and drop them off at a street corner. You come back in a week. If the kids still at that same corner, you’ve got yourself a stupid kid!” If the same goes for puppies, I’ve got a mess of dumb puppies on my hands! The were crawling around on the front lawn, with no set direction, soaked!
On with the rain gear and out I went with my laundry bag. One at a time I scooped them up, stuck them in the bag and got back in the door and out of that storm ASAP. Note to self: clothes, besides underwear, under rain gear would have been more comfortable! Lucky and Delilah had come from under the trees and into the house too while I was out for that 2 minutes.
Wet Puppies on the front door mat.
The morning after the first sleep-over!
Delilah and Lucky had already gone out for breakfast at this point!
Note to my Sweetie: Yes dear, I’ll wash the bedspread from the spare room long before you get back here! 
I got home from my little trip to Sayula around noon. I hadn’t slept well in the hotel. My window opened to the main street on one side.
Hotel entrance
From my room looking at the hotel courtyard.
Sayula Town Square
The sound of cars with no muffler and loud motorcycles kept waking me up. I’d been tense about the ride home on this bike. Was the front wheel OK? Would that new tube be OK? Is there such a thing as alignment of wheel balancing? So many things to learn and, such a long way from home (in more ways than one!)
40k of open road through the dry lake beds.
The trip home went well. I rode at 60 kph for a while, then 70, then 80 and eventually decided that, if something was going to happen with the wheel, my experience wasn’t going to be much different, so I rode 90 1 95 the rest of the way home. All went well. I slowed almost to a dead stop before turning off on the cobblestones and was home by 12:00.
Most of the puppies were asleep in various places on my front lawn when I came in.
Pile-O-Puppies
Cute Puppy!
I unpacked and played with them for a while. Kate left me some chicken in the fridge which I devoured! That was a nice teat.
I decided I was tired and, there’s no reason not too so, I grabbed a book and went and lay down in bed a read for a couple of hours. Wha a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
I could hear Lucky making some noise out in the front room so, I got up to investigate. SHe came over and met me at the chair. This is her favourite spot because she knows I’ll scratch both sides of her neck and throat from there. She’d sit there with me scratching her for hours if I didn’t get bored after a few minutes.
THis next bit broke me up. I talk to my dogs when I play with them. “Nice dog”, “Good Puppy”, brilliant creative things like that! Anyway, Delilah was out front near the bush the pups are near and heard. She got up and came over the screen door. I had it pushed tight so that flys don’t come in. Lucky can get it open but Delilah can’t. I stopped scratching Lucky and said, “Go let Delilah in” and . . . . she did! I couldn’t believe it. I guess probably she heard Delilah at the door and went to see her, but, it was right on que. She pushed the door open. Delilah walked over for me to scratch her too, and Lucky sat back and watched! Too funny.
I scratched Delilah for a while. Lucky came over and wanted to be scratched too. All I had to do was say `Git`once and they both walked away and lay down near the front door and went back to sleep!
`Good Puppies!`
It was mid afternoon last Saturday that I arrived back here at our house in Mexico, without Lynne. The next adventure in our lives had begun.
What’s the adventure?
Lynne had bought a house in Newmarket and for the first time in her life will set it all up, decorate it, furnish it and do whatever she wants to it without having to compromise at all. The really important thing for her though is that she’ll be back home with family and friends for 2/3 of the year and will be doing more of a ‘snow bird’ thing here the rest of the time.
For me, it’s spending some solitary time. I felt, for most of my 43 years of my working life that it was important to always be showing the happy, successful face. Nobody wants to do business with anyone who isn’t “on top of the world and on top of their game” . That’s what I believed anyway. Now, I get the chance to be away from everybody and everything and just chillax, dig deep and figure out who I really am and maybe once and for all figure out what I want to do when I grow up! I really hope that when the dust all settle that I don’t find out that \i really nam an asshole!
Lynne and I will get together in New York early in November. I’m going to run my last race, the New York Marathon, on November 7. I’ll go back to our Newmarket house after that and, try my best not to say things like; “Wouldn’t that look better there” and ” Do you mind if I move some of the pictures around?” In return, Lynne will NOT stick a folk in my eye!
I figure I’ll spend a week or so there, then I’d like to fly out to Calgary and see Christine and the kids for a few days and then come back here. Lynne is planning on coming down here right after New Years and stay through the winter.
We’ve had a couple of long distance time sin our working lives before so, this isn’t as odd a thing to us as it seems to be to some of the folks who haven’t known us for years and years.
So, week 1.
I found it REALLY ODD for the first few days not having Lynne here. It wasn’t bad, just, it didn’t quite seem right sometimes. It didn’t help that, for one reason or another, Lynne and I couldn’t talk very much at all. Now that she’s in her / our house, and Steve M (Thanks Steve) hooked up Lynne Internet today, we should be able to talk as often as we want.
Coach Bryan has taken on his first client (athlete?) and is coaching me as I try to get ready for the marathon. This will be my first. Somehow, I think the marathon at the end of the two Ironman races I did don’t really count as marathons. Bryan is giving h=me some tips and advice and a ton of encouragement as well as different ideas for my very loose training plan. He’s checking my stats after each run as well. It’s making a world of difference for me. Thanks Bryan?
I finally got my motorcycle back from the shop.
Manly-man looking isn’t it! It’s really just a 250 cc 2001 bike that I’ve pickup to learn on. I’ve never ridden before, well, that 2 minute ride that ended up with me crashing into a truck, breaking my collar-bone and dislocating my shoulder a few months back doesn’t count!
Nothing seems to ever just go completely right here in Mexico. They get there, but it takes just a bit longer than, well, my patience lasts (unfortunately).
I got the bike back a week later than it was supposed to be ready. I would have thought that 7 weeks would have been enough time to bring it back to new but, apparently now. It takes 8 weeks. When I did go to get it, Bike Dude says “Do I have the key?” Ummmmm – “Yes”. Well after about 20 minutes he was able to find a key got the gas tank open. He put some gas in for me. He found another key that would start the bike (but not open the gas) and he found the key was at the electrical shop i n Guadalajara. He told me to come back today to pick the proper key up. Meanwhile, I had the screwy key that would start the bike anyway.
The trip back her to the house was fun, and nerve-wracking. The town is 25k away and the highway is the only way to get here. I think the fastest we ever got at bike school was about 30 – 35k. Flying down the highway at 95 kph was a new, really really fun experience. The speed limit along that road is posted as 60, but everyone on the road was still passing me. What can I say. Welcome to Mexico!
I found an excuse to go out again later in the day yesterday. I needed some bug spray for the house. I leave the doors open for the dogs and cats and, the flys like to come in too! I could have walked up to the top of the street but, decided it would be better if I rode to the north end of Chapala and bought it at the big grocery store there. Today I headed back to get the key but, bike dude wasn’t there. I should come back Monday now! Grrrrrr!!!
I came back to town and found an empty parking lot to practice some of the stuff that I learned at school. Biking seems to be a bit like sailing was. Anyone can bike or sail at full speed, but try to do it with no speed and it’s another thing. I practiced some quick stops in the parking lot as well. I guess in time I can go from one bike to another and not have them feel very different, but this bike feels a lot heavier that the ones at school. I guess, now that I’m old, I’m being a bit more careful than I once was! hopefully the bike guy has my key on Monday and, I don’t run out of gas on my way there! I wish |I knew how far an average 250 cc bike goes on a tank of gas. I guess I’ll find out in time!
The other cool news at the ranch is that there were 7 new puppies born on Wednesday. Delilah has had her last litter. We’ll take her to get fixed as soon as she’s done with her pups. We take the pups for their shots at the same time. We’re not having a repeat performance of last year when all but one died of distemper!
Delilah had this litter under the bush right outside of our house.
The Puppies were born under that big tall grass like looking plant at the corner of our house.
The bush is amazing. The grass is really hard and sharp, but there is a cave all the way around the base in the inside. Delilah has an opening that she uses to get in and out.
Delilah Bush Cave Opening
Delilah let me craw in once to have a look. This picture isn’t very clear, but I didn’t want to upset Delilah for very long. I’m sure they will be out soon enough!
There are actually 7 puppies in this picture!
So, that’s about it for the ‘end of week 1′ update. Lynne’s in her house. I’m here with my bike and my pets. Life is unfolding the way it’s supposed to I guess!
I’m off for my first 10k run in months and months tomorrow morning. I’d like to go ride around the lake but, without being able to get into the gas tank yet, that ride will have to wait! Ironman Canada is next weekend. Good luck to all my friends who are heading out there. I’ll be watching all day next Sunday.
Lynne and I went for a walk with Lucky Puppy yesterday afternoon. We just walked around the block with here without a leash. Lucky was great. She stayed pretty much right with us. The few times that she stopped to smell junk at the side of the road, she came right away when we called her.
After dinner last night, I walked up to the grocery store at the top of the street. I guess Lucky figures it’s now OK to leave the property any time I do and I guess she figures she should just walk behind a bit. I was in the grocery store when she decided to walk ahead. I thought it was one of the funniest things I’d seen in a while. There I am, in the middle of the store and Lucky is just looking at the stuff on the shelves too! I guess it’s not as big a deal here as it is in the old country.
I took Lucky, on a leash, out for a run with me. I only did 3k, over to the town square in the next town and back. The roads are tough to run on because of the cobblestones so, I run on the edge of the curb. There is a little part that come out into the street for about 10 inches. It’s much easier on the feet to run there. I guess Lucky thinks the same thing. She ran on the same bit of curb just a step behind me almost all the way. Too funny.
Here’s the link to our (Lucky and I) first run together.
Lucky first Run at Garmin Connect – Details.
